$350 million for new tests

One of the best things about the multi-state push for common standards is the possibility of sharing test development. Here's reporting from Politics P-12 of planned federal support for stronger testing efforts:

The U.S. Department of Education will use a portion of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund to help states work on developing assessments, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told governors in North Carolina tonight.... The details are still being worked out, but he said $350 million of the $4.35 billion in Race to the Top money set aside for states will go to the project.... And it sounds like Duncan is hoping that at least some states will work together on creating the tests.

Really good tests will cost more than the fill-in-the-bubble variety, Duncan told the governors, and it'll be too much money for any one state to do on its own. So the feds are going to put up part of the funding and Duncan is hoping that states will choose to collaborate with one another.